


Where Your Edges Lie

by idleflower



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Chess, F/M, Hostage Situations, Pre-Relationship, darker than it looks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-07-15 10:42:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7219225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idleflower/pseuds/idleflower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amaris Trevelyan and Commander Cullen are enjoying a friendly game of chess when the question of stakes comes up, and things get a bit strange.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where Your Edges Lie

It was only a game. A chess match, and Commander Cullen was winning so handily that Amaris could not help wondering if he had let her win, the first time that they had played. If he had, as an excuse to spend more time with her... well, that wasn't so bad. Or perhaps it had only been a feint to measure her skill, so that he could counter it in the future. Sometimes a commander would have to sacrifice a battle in order to win the war. 

In truth, it was comforting to think that his skill for strategy outstripped hers. Amaris knew herself to be an intelligent woman, and had played many games during her years at the Circle, but Cullen was her general. Her protector. He should be victorious.

"It looks like luck is favoring you today," she teased, her smile light and unworried.

"Perhaps it has." His eyes lingered on hers, the corners crinkling warmly, and she fought back the sudden urge to reach out and touch the softness of his hair.

"I..." Amaris looked away. "Well. It is a good thing there are no stakes in this game. I wouldn't want to have to lose my... um, cookies." Cookies, yes. That was a safe stake. Better not to think about that one time she'd bet her robes and lost, not in front of Cullen!

"Cookies?"

"Yes! I, ah - I'm very fond of cookies, you know! Terrible weakness." She felt herself blush and knew that she was babbling. "I have some, you see?" She brought out the little bag of treats that she had been hoping to share with him.

"I see." He leaned back in his chair, smiling. "Do anything for cookies, would you?"

"... maybe?" He couldn't possibly be suggesting - no, he looked far too casual to be imagining what she was imagining!

"I see. I'll have to remember that. It might be useful as an interrogation technique."

_Don't giggle, Amaris! You're supposed to be the Inquisitor, not a nervous apprentice!_ "Oh, no, ser, please don't threaten my cookies!"

"Threaten!" He sat bolt upright, his voice straining in surprise. "Inquisitor, I would never -"

And then another voice cut in, a voice whose Orlesian musicality had been crushed almost flat. "Threats are often more effective than promises, Commander." 

Cullen rose to his feet, attempting to restore his professional mien. "Leliana. I didn't see you there."

Her lips tightened in what might once have been a smile. "Of course you didn't."

Amaris stood as well, her fingers fidgeting over the edges of her casual clothing. "Hello."

Leliana tilted her head slightly. "Inquisitor." Smoothly, she reached over and picked up the bag of cookies. With a flick of her wrist, she produced a dagger seemingly from thin air. "Would you betray our secrets if I threatened your cookies?"

Amaris blinked. What on earth was Leliana playing at? _This is a game, isn't it? It's so rare to see her 'play' at anything at all._ "I would hold out as long as I could," she said carefully. "Though in the end, I might... crumble." She hoped the pun would win a smile, but was disappointed. 

Leliana's face was unreadable. She tossed the little bag of baked goods back at the mage, who caught it against her chest. "And you, Commander?" She moved closer to Cullen, then, the tip of her dagger kissing his armor at the base of his neck with a barely-perceptible tink. "Would you betray the Inquisition if I threatened your life?" The dagger tip moved downwards, resting just over his belt buckle.

Amaris's breath caught in her throat. _This is getting weird._ Leliana wasn't really threatening Cullen, was she? Was she flirting with him somehow? Did they have a history together that they hadn't mentioned? _If she's a jealous ex, I'm never going to sleep safely again..._

Cullen showed no reaction other than a small tightening of his brows. "You know I would not."

"No. You wouldn't." For a moment, Leliana's eyes appeared sympathetic.

What happened next came without warning. 

Amaris never even saw her move. All of a sudden, Leliana was behind her, one fist clenched in her hair, wrenching her head back, the other holding that gleaming blade over Amaris's exposed throat, her grip so precise that only a hair's breadth separated the metal from the skin.

"Maker!" Cullen protested, reaching out, but Leliana pulled back harder, forcing a gasp out of Amaris. "What are you - Stop this at once!"

"Answer me truthfully, Commander," Leliana said. "What would you tell me if I threatened her? What would you give me, for her life?"

Moments passed, and the only sound Amaris could hear was the racing of her own pulse. _She isn't going to hurt me. This is ridiculous. It's a game. I could set her on fire, and she knows it. It's only a game..._

A faint sheen of sweat covered Cullen's face. His shoulders rose and fell, too swiftly. And still, Leliana did not yield.

At last, his hand fell to his side. "Anything," he said, his voice low and rough. "Anything you wanted."

The surge of pain that gripped Amaris's chest was so intense that for a moment, she almost thought Leliana _had_ stabbed her.

The dagger vanished into the depths of Leliana's robes, as if it had never been there. "It is good to know where your edges lie."

And with that, Leliana left them, Commander and Inquisitor, staring at each other, and returned to the shadows.

**Author's Note:**

> This is neither my Inquisitor nor my real belief of how these characters work. This is largely the record of a dream I had, complete with weird mood shift, which seemed enough of an unusual story to be worth sharing with someone.
> 
> (In the dream, it wasn't Leliana with the blade, but she made the most sense to insert into this scenario.)


End file.
